July 13, 2020
Northwell Health was awarded the Pandemic Acceleration and Activation Award from national telehealth leader Amwell®. Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer.
Northwell Health was recognized for its swift virtual response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, specifically its ability to enable quality health care to thousands in need through telehealth services.
“I am incredibly proud of the work done by the telehealth teams under extraordinary circumstances to make sure our patients could receive the care they needed from Northwell physicians and other members of our clinical teams too numerous to name,” said Dr. Martin Doerfler, MD, senior vice president of clinical strategy and development at Northwell.
Northwell’s telehealth program grew exponentially during the pandemic, integrating more than 65 departments into the scheduled visit workflow and increasing the number of providers on the Amwell system from a few hundred daily to over 5,000 virtual visits every day.
The ability to rapidly scale the virtual care program allowed Northwell to maintain care to patients, especially those in the most vulnerable populations. The program will remain a strong part of the way Northwell delivers care to patients in the future – not just during times of crisis, but regularly to those who would have difficulty accessing health care otherwise.
Northwell treated more COVID-19 patients than any other health system in the nation between March and June, including about 17,000 hospitalized patients. Accounting for those seen in the health system’s emergency departments, urgent care centers, physician practices and virtually, Northwell provided medical care to more than 55,000 COVID-19 patients overall.
